myths can come true
by calicat
Summary: Firesong brings Onyx back to the vale. Chapter 3 up at last!
1. shadowy beings

Summary: I love mythological animals, that's part of the reason why I love Mercedes' books. But she doesn't use some of the most well known: Unicorns, Dragons, and Pegasus'. So I decided to put them into her stories; along with a few of my own or other authors design. I don't own any of Mercedes' characters so don't sue; I don't have anything to give you.

Myths come to Valdemar

The soft crunch of hooves on the dry leaves of the forest floor seemed very loud in the silence of the night. A dark creature slinked in and out of the shadows as it made its way through the forest. At the slightest sound, the creature stopped, looking around frantically as it were being stalked by something it couldn't see. 

In a way it was, for a young scout from K'Valdemar Vale was following the unfamiliar creature that appeared to be made of shadows. Moonstone was very weary of this strange creature she was following, the few glimpses of it were not very revealing. She could only tell that it was big and darkly colored, and that it was shielded from outside thought. She had already contacted Stormsong but for the first time in her life, that did not comfort her. Stormsong was one of the senior scouts, and he was on his way should she need any help. But what were they supposed to do against this creature when they don't even know what it is? 

: Calm your self, Moonstone, there are ways of dealing with what you don't know about.: The deep but very calm voice inside her head startled her so badly that she very nearly lost her hold on the tree she was sitting in. :For Goddess' sake, Moonstone, what happened to you in the last few hours, you are usually one of the calmest of all junior scouts, what could possibly get you so riled up?:

:I am not sure, Stormsong, the creature I spoke of is sitting opposite us in the shadows of that large oak. I have never seen anything that can move through the darkness like that thing can.: Moonstone replied. 

:In the shadow of the oak, you say? But, Moonstone, I see nothing.:

:Just wait until it starts to move, then you can see it, kind of.:

:What do you mean, 'kind of'?:

:I mean that you can see something moving, and you can tell that it is large, but other than that I can't tell a thing about it. That is what has gotten me so worked up.:

At that moment, it began to move again and Stormsong held his breath, trying desperately to make out some feature thru the shadow; it was a nearly impossible task. 

:Have you asked your owl if he can see anything?:

:Yes I have, but Zanth says he can only see that it is very dark and that it blends in with the shadows.: Came the reply. :My biggest concern is that it is heading in the direction of the Vale.: 

:Come on Moonstone, we need to alert the Vale and get someone out here that can help us.: 

Firesong gradually became aware that someone was talking to him and gently shaking him. He opened his eyes to the scaled face of Kaila, a rather shy _Hertasi. _

"Stormsong has a slight problem, Firesong that he would like some advice on before he does anything, but it is rather urgent." She said is a soft whisper, "Darien is already up and waiting for you by the front entrance."   
Firesong sighed and nodded an affirmative, watching as she scampered out with out another word. Letting out a muffled curse as his feet hit the cold floor, Firesong quickly got dressed and headed out to find out why he was needed. 

"Hey, Firesong we're over here." Darien's soft voice rose to his ears, and he turned to see the one who hailed him standing next to a rather pale young scout, to who he had never actually spoken. _Moonsong? No that's not right, Moonstreak, no, that's not it either, Moonstone! Yes Moonstone._

_ He approached them with a tired smile, "So Darien, I can tell that you were the one to have me waken, what is out there that you can't handle all on your own, my cocky protégé?"_

The look that Darien gave him quelled him on the spot, Firesong hadn't seen him this unnerved in many years. "What is going on, Darien. I can tell you are worried, so don't try to play any games." 

"Moonstone found something out in the forest a few hours ago. She and Stormsong have been tracking it, but still can't tell what it is. What's more, none of the owls can tell what it is either, and it is heading this way. We don't know if it is dangerous, but it is shielded against any form of mind probe."

            "The thing is down right unnerving to watch, it moves with out making much sound and I couldn't find any tracks at all. It's like it's made out of the shadows that it was hiding in." The soft, slightly frightened voice of Moonstone said. 

            Darien piped up, "I was wondering if your firebird might not be of some help, if we could corner this thing then he could light up the area and reveal what this creature really is." 

            "True, we could do something like that, let me see what our situation is and then we will make a decision." Was Firesong's reply.

Stormsong pointed into the shadows of a huge willow tree next to a small bubbling brook. Firesong squinted, seeing nothing and unsure if there was really anything there. Then a slight movement towards the water caught his eye, it was barely noticeable, and when it was over it blended back into the dark. With four more hours until sunrise, Firesong didn't think waiting it out until dawn would be a good idea, but what was? _Strange that there is no moon tonight, of all the nights why did this thing have to come here tonight. _

:Firesong, we think it might be trying to get to the water without being discovered. If that is the case, maybe thirst will drive it out of hiding.:

:That is a possibility, but we cannot take that the chance. I don't like the thought of an unknown creature roaming these woods especially one that can block a mind probe.:

:I understand that, do you have any suggestions?:

Firesong sat and thought a minute before coming up with the sliver of an idea.

:Darien might have a point, if we could light up the area, with a false light, we maybe able to see what this creature is. Unfortunately, I don't believe that my bondbird will be able to pull off the job alone, we are going to need to use magic…:

Onyx looked around the darkness of the forest with apprehension, she never would have left the cave if hunger and thirst hadn't made themselves known. The wound on her flank was just finally starting to knit closed and she was hesitant to do anything that would tear it again. It was a strange wound, given to her by a strange creature that she had never seen the likes of before. She could sense that whatever it was that attacked her had not come from nature, but seemed to be created by the large pools of magic, known as nodes. Being made entirely out of the small, earthly magic that humans could neither see nor control, the slash refused to heal. The magic that created the other creature had somehow made it so that her own natural healing abilities would not work, and the wound had been seeping blood now for three weeks.   
Onyx was solid black, and horse-like in shape, but with some major differences. Her hooves were cloven, her tail was long, with only a tuft of hair on the very end, much like a lions. But the biggest difference was the large spiraled horn protruding from her forehead. Onyx was a unicorn, the first ever to venture forth form their home form to the west of Valdemar. A large earthquake had rocked her valley-home, after a few weeks of searching with no luck, she finally decided that any other who had survived had left the area. She to left, hoping to find them, but in the seven years since it had occurred, she still had not found a trace. Now it was simply a home she was searching for, a place where she could live without traveling and without fear of the dangers that lurked in this strange place. 

Now she stood beneath the huge willow and looked longingly on the water, but her fear of being discovered by whatever it was that was following her was too great to risk leaving her shelter. Her huge midnight blue eyes picked up a movement from the treetops again, and she stilled her breath, hoping her ability to blend in was still effective despite the exhaustion she felt from using it nonstop all night. Finally unable to resist the water anymore she took a careful step forward, then another, right up the edge of the willows shadow. Onyx shook her head, fight the animalistic instinct to run to the water and slurp up the needed liquid desperately. Slowly she stepped out of the shadows, and carefully made her way to the stream. Dipping her head she began to drink, her body sagged in relief as it finally received what it was so desperate for. 

Just as her thirst was quenched a blinding light filled the area, startled she reared back on her hind legs, and spun around before taking off at a dead run into the darkness of the trees around her. At some point during it all, the wound on her flank reopen painfully and her silvery white blood was trailing down her hind leg, and with it went her small reserve of energy, she knew that this chase would not last long…

Firesong watched as the creature finally made its was out of the shadows, but it was still too vague of a form to determine what it was, he sighed to himself and set the spell in motion. Within seconds the entire clearing was full of bright light, the creature was horse-shaped but that was about all he could determine before, quick as a flash it was off running through the woods. It was a good thing he was already aboard his dyheli friend, or there would have been no way to keep up with it. They took off after it as it ran headlong through the forest, but it didn't take long for them to catch up, they could see it in the darkness ahead of them, but every few steps it became clearer as they managed to get closer to it. 

:It is tiring, Firesong, but I don't think it is because of the run, I think something else is bothering it.: the dyheli mindspoke. Just then the creature faltered and went down in a noisy crash. The dyheli slowed immediately, stopping on top of the small gully that the creature had fallen into, Firesong slid of his back and looked over the edge. The creature was lying on its side, one front leg tucked underneath it and the other out in front, one hind leg was stretched out behind it and the other was laying in a more natural position beside its belly. This leg was also covered in a silvery liquid from it flank to it cloven hoof; its head was stretched out and lying on one of the front legs. I was the head that caught his attention, from the middle of its head there grew a large spiraled horn. This creature was unlike anything he had ever seen before, as he stared at it the others came running up, just now getting there. They stared in silence at the creature, which lay there unmoving except for its heaving sides. Then Firesong looked at its, no her, it was definitely female, head, her eyes opened and looked back at him, they were some of the bluest eyes he had ever seen, but it was the intelligence he saw in them that held him paralyzed. 

Please review and tell me what you think. I love reviews, even flames, this is my first Mercedes Lackey fic. 

More will be up soon if you all like what I've got so far.


	2. first encounter

Thanks for all the great reviews, I really appreciate it. Oh, and to jiamine, no I am not going to put all the creatures in at one time. I had planned on doing several different stories, each focused on a different mythological creature. 

Disclaimer remains the same: I own nothing, with the exception of Onyx, and I have nothing, so don't sue. 

CHAPTER TWO

She was right, the chase hadn't lasted very long, and as she was running she felt her leg start to go numb. Then she could hardly put any weight on it at all and it gave out on her sending her crashing heavily to the ground. Unfortunately, there was a deep gully right in front of her and her momentum kept her going right down to the bottom. That really hurt, and she had no more energy to fight. So she lay there quietly, unmoving with her eyes closed, when she heard the hoof beats come to a stop on the rim above her. Then the sound of two feet making their way down the slope to her, and in the distance she could hear more on the way. She sighed heavily and opened her eyes; taking in her first glimpse of what she thought would be her doom. The human looked straight into her eyes and just stared, as though he had never seen another living thing before. She sent out a tentative mind probe and discovered that he was a human mage, a very powerful one at that. And there seemed no intent to harm her, only great concern for what he believed to be his territory and strangely enough, concerned for her. Shifting her exhausted body, she glanced away from the mage and back towards her throbbing leg. She whimpered slightly at the sight of so much blood, the front of her leg nearly pure white with the liquid, and the wound was swollen and sore. She quickly looked away, trying desperately to hold off the wave of dizziness that took a hold of her; and gathered her legs beneath her. 

:Easy there, dark one, please don't do anything to hurt yourself. I realize that we frightened you badly, but you gave us quite a scare as well.: Onyx jerked her head around in surprise, hearing the mage's voice echo inside her head. :You see, we protect this land, and when our scouts saw a large shapeless shadow moving towards our home they thought it best not to chance your intent towards us.: 

Onyx considered this the mage very carefully, _He treats me like an equal, if a little wary of me, and he has to know that he could kill me or capture me easily. Perhaps he means what he says. _Once again she looked at her injured leg and sighed with the realization that she had little choice but to trust him. 

Firesong waited patiently as she composed herself and saw the desperation in her eyes as she thought over what he had to say. Silently he prayed that she wouldn't fight him, he desperately wanted to help her, and learn from her. This chance to discover something previously unknown to his people gave him a feeling of being young again, and he felt an long forgotten stir inside of him that reminded him so much of his younger, much more vain and confident self.  Shaking his head, Firesong locked eyes with a very unsure Darien. 

:Darien, I don't think that this creature is a danger. Why don't you take Moonstone and Stormsong back to the vale, and get another scout to take the rest of Moonstone's patrol. She has had a long and exhausting night.: 

Darien jumped slightly at the sound of his teacher's mindvoice. He gave a quiet nod and led the other two out of the gulley. 

Onyx sighed with relief as the other humans left, their presence had been unnerving and the female's fear obvious. This greatly confused Onyx never had she encountered a creature that feared unicorns, granted she was unusual, even for a unicorn. Few were ever born solid black as she was, although they did come in a variety of color. She cleared her head of thoughts of home before the loneliness took over and turned to the mage.

:I can see that you mean me no harm, human, and I think that you believe that I am no danger to you. Why do you stay, when your companions have already gone?: She asked him. 

:My name is Firesong, and we Tayledras have lived with and helped our nonhuman friends for as long as we can remember. Lady, you are injured, I am offering you a warm, dry place to stay, and healers who can help with the wound.: Firesong smiled down into her eyes. 

Onyx didn't know what to think, first she was chased through the forest, apologized to and now she was being offered a place to stay and heal! Her body hurt with unreleased tension from the past several weeks, and her mind and heart ached to find companionship and a home; the offer was very tempting. Another gentle probe of his mind, slightly deeper this time, proved that he was sincere. 

:Very well, Firesong, my name is Onyx, and I would be glad to accept your offer.:

I know this one was kind of short, but let me know what you think while start working on the next chapter. And the more reviews I get the more I am inspired to write. R/R!!!!


	3. Healing and the unexpected

Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't updated, but I am in the navy and I have been really busy lately. I just thought that maybe you should know I will update as often as I can but the last month has been busy. Anyway, I don't own anyone but Onyx.

CHAPTER THREE

Slowly, Onyx gathered her legs beneath her, the pain and exhaustion evident in her ever move. Firesong watched her careful movement and wondered if he would be able to help her in any way. Seeing her leg, covered with what must be her blood, reminded Firesong that she would be needing a healer tonight, preferably one waiting for her when they arrived. Reaching out with his mind, Firesong easily found Darien.

:Darien, we are going to have a guest for a while. Her name is Onyx and she is in desperate need of a healer and a place to rest for a while.: Firesong could sense Darien's unease. 

:If you think that this is a good idea, and that she would be no danger, then I bow to your judgment, Firesong.:

:I would  not endanger the Vale, and you know that, if I thought she posed the slightest danger, I would not have extended the invitation.: Firesong replied. :Please have Nightwind wakened, I think she should look at Onyx tonight.:

Onyx glanced at Firesong, he had a far away look to him, and she realized he was thought sending to his friends. _He must be making plans about what to do with me, she thought to herself, then turned her attention back to her predicament. She had gathered her front legs beneath her with little problems aside from exhaustion; it was getting her hind legs to work properly that was the problem. The right one, the one with the wound, was incapable of supporting weight, and she was too exhausted to heave herself up with only the left one. She was getting very frustrated with herself after a few attempts sent her crashing back to the ground before she could get her front legs situated  to support  her weight. That was when she felt a small inflow of energy, startled she looked back towards the mage, he had put his hand on her without her even realizing it, and was sending her the energy she needed to get to her feet. With a little more effort and his help she was finally able to stand, if only on three legs. She looked at him with gratitude and took a few experimental steps. _

It was a long, tiring walk back to the Vale, the two them talked very little, not really wanting to waste the energy and knowing that any questions they had would be answered in due time. When they finally reached the Vale, Firesong felt relief; Onyx on the other hand felt quite a bit of awe. In all her travels she had never seen a place such as this one; the human creations that she had seen were big and ugly, having no true place in nature. But this place was incredible, she could see that they had used magic to form it, but it was so well done that it _felt as thought it were a natural part of the surrounding environment. A thousand questions entered her mind as they walked through the front entrance, but she knew that they could wait. _

Waiting for them was a woman with long dark hair wearing a flowing robe that was wonderful deep green. She walked forward when she saw them approach with a smile and an open mind, proving to Onyx that she could be trusted as well. 

:Hello Onyx, my name is Nightwind, and I am a trondi'rn, I help the non-humans of our community with anything they might need, from healing to simple grooming. Will you allow me to tend your wound?: Her mindvoice was clear and kindly, Onyx accepted her offer readily and soon found herself in a very roomy cave that was lined with large pillows and blankets. Within moments she was sound asleep.

Nightwind was trying desperately to understand just what happened to this strange creature. The wound was deep and infected with, of all things, magic. But the magic was of a different sort than the unicorn was made of, so, searching her mind for a solution, Nightwind set to work.  

Onyx woke the next morning to find the dark haired woman curled up in the pillows on the opposite side of the cave. She was feeling entirely refreshed, and her leg no longer hurt, glancing at it, she was amazed to see it had begun to knit closed over night. And feeling of it with her magic, proved that whatever it was that refused to let it heal was gone. Instinctually she set her own natural healing powers into motion. Gathering her legs beneath her, she made her way out of the cave without disturbing the healer. Breathing in the fresh air of the vale made her feel more revitalized then she had felt in a long time. Giving a slight nicker, she set off at a slow trot to explore this new and seemingly wonderful place. 

The unicorn wound her way through the maze of plants and trees, occasionally catching glimpses of the small lizard-like creatures. Compared to the outside world, the creatures that flew above her and the plants that were growing all around her were very strange; despite this, Onyx felt at home among the foliage. It reminded her very much of her home, and she felt the familiar pang of loneliness. Then she came to a fork in the trail, looking side to side, she could not decide which way to go, which was unusual since unicorns had very little trouble in making decisions. Then, off to the right, she smelled water, and deciding to investigate, she headed in that direction.  What she found was the last thing that she expected. 

Darien was lounging in the hot springs, talking with some of the scouts and mages that were also taking advantage of the water. It was one of the largest and most popular of the springs, and at the moment was filled with nearly twenty taylen'dras.  They were all talking among themselves on various different subjects, some of the scouts just coming off the night shift and were relaxing before heading to their bed, while others were mages or visitors who had just gotten up.  Darien lay his head back while trying to get the energy to get out and get on with his day. He had just turned for a towel when a snort and shuffling sound was heard from one of the nearby trail entrances. Darien swung towards the noise just as the entire pool area went silent; standing not ten feet away was the strange creature from the night before.

Please Review! I know that was not exactly an exciting chapter, but I will admit I ran into a bit of writers block. Any reviews are helpful and if anyone has ideas on where I should go from here please let me know. I am really stuck. 

Thanks and bye for now.


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